PTSD Symptoms

After a trauma in which you think you might die, see someone die, or become seriously injured, and you feel intense fear, helplessness, or horror, it is very common to become distressed and anxious. You may have trouble sleeping, have nightmares, think about the trauma a lot, try to avoid the site of the trauma, and/or try to avoid feelings at all and become more numb. This is called "acute stress disorder." For most people, this distressing period passes within about four weeks.

People who develop PTSD do not get over their trauma so quickly. This disorder must be diagnosed by a medical professional, but there are three main symptoms:

Re-experiencing the trauma, such as flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, etc.

Avoidance: trying to avoid thoughts, feelings, situations, or people who might remind you of the trauma

Relationship problems: having problems with intimacy or feeling detached from your family and friends

Depression: persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood; loss of interest in once-enjoyed activities; feelings of guilt and shame; or hopelessness about the future. Other symptoms of depression may also develop.

PTSD is often associated with other psychiatric and physical problems.

A majority of men and women with PTSD also have another psychiatric
disorder. Nearly half suffer from major depression, and a significant percentage
suffer from anxiety disorders, and social phobia. They also are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors such as alcohol abuse,
and drug abuse.

Veterans who have been diagnosed with psychiatric conditions have a significantly higher prevalence of all cardiovascular disease risk factors (tobacco use, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes than those without mental-health diagnoses).

Children and adolescents also experience trauma, and PTSD.

Following the trauma, children may initially show agitated or confused behavior. They also may show intense fear, helplessness, anger, sadness, horror, or denial. Children who experience repeated trauma may develop a kind of emotional numbing to deaden or block the pain and trauma. This is called dissociation. Children with PTSD avoid situations or places that remind them of the trauma. They may also become less responsive emotionally, depressed, withdrawn, and more detached from their feelings.

A child with PTSD may also re-experience the traumatic event by

having frequent memories of the event, or in young children, play in which some or all of the trauma is repeated over and over;

having upsetting and frightening dreams;

acting or feeling like the experience is happening again;

or developing repeated physical or emotional symptoms when the child is reminded of the event.

Children with PTSD may also show the following symptoms:

Worry about dying at an early age

Losing interest in activities

Having physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches

Showing more sudden and extreme emotional reactions

Having problems falling or staying asleep

Showing irritability or angry outbursts

Having problems concentrating

Acting younger than their age (for example, clingy or whiny behavior, thumbsucking)

Showing increased alertness to the environment

Repeating behavior that reminds them of the trauma

Teenagers' symptoms might include

recurrent, intrusive, and distressing memories of the event;

recurrent, distressing dreams of the event;

acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring;

intense psychological distress when exposed to reminders of the traumatic event and consequent avoidance of those stimuli;

numbing of general responsiveness (detachment, estrangement from others, decreased interest in significant activities);